In the United States, it is estimated that approximately forty percent of the population is afflicted with snoring problems of sufficient severity to disturb the sleep of the person doing the snoring, or the mate of such a person, on a regular basis. Snoring is caused, in general, by an interference with the passage of air through the upper respiratory system. This may be due to airway congestion from drainage, from allergies, or from mechanical obstruction. Whatever the cause, the noise produced is highly undesirable.
In the past, therapy for eliminating or reducing snoring has included the administration of decongestants and antihistamines, which generally have been ineffective. Such medications have exhibited, at best, limited success for reducing drainage due to colds, allergies and the like.
Another approach to eliminating or reducing snoring is to employ surgical techniques. Primary among these techniques are partial uvulectomies, which have achieved limited success. Surgical procedures, whether utilizing a surgical knife to affect procedure or, more recently, employing laser surgical techniques, result in considerable discomfort following the procedure. As with any invasive surgical procedure, there is a risk of infection, bleeding and possible adverse reaction to anesthesia. Even where a partial uvulectomy has been effected, limited success at solving the problem of snoring occurs.
A third technique for reducing or eliminating snoring includes the use of mechanical appliances, which are externally applied to the nose or nasal passages in the nose. Such mechanical appliances include a reverse spring which is externally mounted on the nose to hold the nostrils wide open, thereby, at least theoretically, increasing the size of the air passage while the person, on which the device is mounted, is sleeping. Of course such a mechanical treatment has no effect whatsoever for snoring which takes place when a person breathes through his or her mouth.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a simple, easy to use, relatively inexpensive, and effective procedure for substantially reducing or eliminating problem snoring.